563 



3.1.2) Economical Obstacles 



Making use of public data transmission networks, as things stand at 

 present, is often the only solution available to laboratories and 

 research bodiefs that wish to exchange information. 



In particular, where High Energy Physics is concerned: "in France, 

 there is a lot of networking activity in the laboratories of the 

 Paris region, from where previously installed permanent connections 

 exist to different locations in France and to CERN; there is also a 

 permanent connection between Annecy and CERN. In Germany, it may be 

 noted that an important new project has been started under the name 

 DFN (Deutsches Forschungsnetz) with the aim of providing high-level 

 services over the DATEX-P public network. In Italy, there does not 

 exist yet a public data network; various laboratories of the INFN 

 (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare) are linked by a private 

 DECNET network, which has a connection to CERNET. In Switzerland, 

 the public network is fairly new and is still missing some 

 international connections. In the United Kingdom, besides the 

 public PSS network, there exists a very important private network 

 operated by the Computer Board, JANET (Joint Academic Network); it 

 is derived from the network previously operated by the Science and 

 Engineering Research Council, SERCNET; JANET is connected to PSS and 

 to some computers at CERN. There is also a permanent connection 

 between the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and the DESY Laboratory. 



The possibility of connection to American networks, including 

 ARPANET, BITNET, TELENET and TYMNET, has been surveyed. Apart from 

 what is offered by most of the European public networks, i.e., 

 essentially access to TELENET and TYMNET with gateways to other 

 networks, some more information is available on a direct connection 

 between ARPANET and SERCNET and on CSNET, a new project of the 

 American National Science Foundation. 



Connections also exist between the European networks and DATAPAC 

 (Canada) and VENUS-P (Japan). Contacts are being established with 

 the HEP groups in these countries". ° 



In the field of Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion, laboratories and 

 research centres make use in most cases of the same public networks, 

 but it has been noted that the private links between research 

 centres are less developed than in the case of High Energy Physics. 

 This is probably due to the fact that, in this field, on-line data 

 processing is not required to the same extent. 



This use of public data transmission networks, in view of the rates 

 charged by the PTTs, gives rise to considerable expenditure, 

 particularly in the case of High Energy Physics. In this regard, it 

 would doubtless be advisable to activate negotiations with the PTTs 



8 ECFA/83/75, September 1983. 



